Chapter 6 - The Missing Two Hundred Thousand
The transfers led to an investment company called North Meridian Holdings.
I had never heard of it.
Maya’s forensic accountant, Ellis Grant, arrived before noon.
He reviewed the statements in silence.
Then he turned the screen toward me.
“Do you recognize this account?”
“No.”
“It received eleven transfers from your joint investment portfolio.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred and eighteen thousand dollars.”
My mouth went dry.
Daniel and I had earned good money.
He was a respected cardiothoracic surgeon.
I ran a successful medical communications firm from home.
But two hundred thousand dollars was not money anyone could quietly misplace.
“Where did it go?”
Ellis clicked through another series of documents.
“North Meridian purchased a condominium eighteen months ago.”
“Where?”
“Streeterville.”
The building appeared on the screen.
It was a glass tower overlooking Lake Michigan.
Daniel had once pointed at it while we were driving downtown.
He told me one of his patients owned the penthouse.
“Who owns North Meridian?”
“We are working on that.”
Maya studied the records.
“Rachel, where did the money in this account originally come from?”
“My grandmother.”
She had left me an inheritance shortly before Owen’s tenth birthday.
I had placed most of it into the joint portfolio because Daniel said we were building a future together.
Maya’s expression darkened.
“Did you authorize these transfers?”
“No.”
“Did you sign anything allowing Daniel to move the funds?”
“No.”
Ellis enlarged one of the authorization pages.
A digital signature appeared at the bottom.
Rachel Bennett.
It looked similar to mine.
But the final curve on the B was wrong.
“That is not my signature.”
Maya leaned closer.
“Are you certain?”
“I sign my name dozens of times every week.”
“That is not mine.”
Daniel had not merely spent our money.
He had impersonated me to access it.
Ellis continued searching.
The condominium’s utility records listed two occupants.
Daniel Bennett.
Vanessa Cole.
They had been living together part-time for six months.
I thought about the nights Daniel claimed he was sleeping in the hospital lounge.
The weekends he said he was visiting patients.
The mornings he returned home carrying coffee and complaining about fluorescent lights.
He had another home.
Another bed.
Another version of himself.
A knock sounded at the front door.
Sophie and Owen stood outside with overnight bags.
Lauren’s car was already pulling away.
She did not wait to see whether I opened the door.
Sophie rushed into my arms.
Her body shook as I held her.
Owen stood in the foyer, trying to appear composed.
“Did Dad come here?”
“Last night.”
“What did he say?”
“That he wants to save the marriage.”
Owen gave a bitter laugh.
“He told Grandpa he only wants to protect his money.”
Sophie looked at him.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“I was standing in the hallway.”
Owen reached into his backpack.
“I brought something.”
He handed me an old tablet.
“Dad gave me this last year.”
“He told me it was wiped.”
“It wasn’t.”
The tablet was connected to Daniel’s personal cloud account.
Messages appeared across the screen.
Some were between Daniel and Vanessa.
Others were between Daniel and Richard.
I opened the most recent conversation.
Richard had written first.
You should have transferred the rest before she found out.
Daniel responded three minutes later.
I was going to do it after Paris.
Then another message appeared.
The house is the problem.
Rachel’s name is still on the original deed.
May you like
Richard replied.
Not for long.
